"If it were much more than it is right now, I wouldn't come," Nick Potts said.

But Oahu rates are still the cheapest statewide, according to new data from Hospitality Advisors LLC.

"I think the price is because it's so competitive in Waikiki," said George Szigeti, Hawaii Lodge & Tourism Association President and CEO.

Waikiki's hotel occupancy was 90.8 percent in August, but that number's been slowly dropping.

"It's a sign that we've reached the point where there's some rate resistance in the market," said Waikiki Improvement Association President Rick Egged. "So I think any additional increases in rates are going to be much lower than over the past couple of years and those increases will result in a lower occupancy."

Szigeti said, "Where the pricing point is too high, we'll find that out. But I think right now, the visitors are telling us we're priced right. I mean there's a demand for us to look at expanding if we're going to get above that 8.3 million visitors we have coming."

In the short term, Waikiki will actually lose room space with some major hotels closing for renovations, including the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani.

In the long term, industry experts say there will be small increase as mostly high-end properties like Ritz-Carlton come up, pushing the average room rate up even more.

"But can the room rates for similar properties continue to go up? I think the increases will be much smaller than they have been in the past," Egged said.

Industry experts also said a better balance with the neighbor islands is critical to the long-term success of Hawaii's No. 1 moneymaker.

Forty years ago, one of the greatest boxing matches in history took place in an unlikely setting: the capital of the Philippines. Muhammad Ali's epic win over great rival Joe Frazier in 1975 became known as the "Thrilla in Manila."